The Dragon, The Lion and The Serpent

Chapter 2: The Serpent - Planning

Abigail Serpent was her father's last hope. A couple of years ago her mother had learnt that she could not have any more children and so Abigail became the only heir to the Serpent family. It was only then that her mother decided to teach all the Serpent magical knowledge as rapidly as she could to her daughter, to make sure that it would never be forgotten.

Abigail discovered that same day that her family was in possession of twelve volumes that contained the only written evidence of all the Serpent spells and potions. Most books contained spells that were well-known among the wizarding world, some were even taught at Hogwarts, but certain volumes contained more than that. Albatorus and Alexia Serpent, the founders of the Serpent lineage, had started writing down their inventions and discoveries, passing on the books through the family, and each following generation would add his or her contribution.

Today the books were well-hidden within the family mansion. As their magical knowledge was so great and powerful, the books presented a danger to the wizarding world. Over time, the Serpent family had become suspicious and secretive, as many wizards and witches desired to possess these magical books and within the wrong hands, the family secrets could become dangerous weapons. In the end, due to reasons even Abigail did not know, the Serpent family was forced into exile abroad by the Ministry of Magic, although their daughter was given permission to remain at Hogwarts.

At the beginning of the summer, however, Abigail had lost her mother to a Muggle mental hospital.

The cause of Selena Serpent's sudden madness was still unknown.

The woman had disappeared one night only to reappear a couple of days later in England, raving mad. Because of the emergency of the affair and having no knowledge of the whereabouts of Selena's family, the Ministry had ordered the Serpents' closest family in England to deal with the situation.

Mrs. Granger, (Abigail didn't even know her first name), being the family's closest cousin, made the decision to place Selena in London's finest Muggle psychiatric hospital until she recovered.

To Abigail's despair, the Grangers did not believe magic could cure her mother. How they could commit such a barbaric act, Abigail could not understand. Her father had spent the rest of the summer travelling back and forth to the Ministry to complain about the unfair decision, but the Ministry continued to refuse to let Selena out of the country.

Of course, their ultimate intention was to discover some of the witch's secrets, and Abigail and her father knew it. Abigail just could not accept the idea that her mother was condemned to never leave that Muggle prison because of a Muggle's ignorance and the Ministry's deceitfulness. This terrible event had caused her to change. She became stricter with herself, practicing her magic everyday, letting no physical or emotional stress disturb her until she was finished. And thus, she gradually grew thin and fragile.

She also developed a pure hatred towards the Grangers, especially their daughter, Hermione, who was a year above her at Hogwarts.

This year, Abigail thought it was finally time for people to discover her real identity and so she had chosen to change her last name to Serpent, her mother's maiden name. Indeed, it was her mother that held the strongest of magical powers: her father had no more magic than any other wizard, and had married Selena Serpent for love without ever seeking to gain more power through the family books. He was a loving, caring father and Abigail always obeyed his will, for he always knew best.

She had spent her first week at Hogwarts ignoring her classmates and keeping as much to herself as she could. The task was difficult, as she noticed several professors had started keeping an eye on her, probably on Dumbledore's orders. He was certainly concerned that she had changed her last name.

Hermione had dared to approach her a couple of times, mumbling that she was sorry about her parents and that she had tried everything she could to change their mind. Every time the other Slytherins had needed to restrain Abigail to prevent her from cursing the Gryffindor.

Being a Slytherin, it was easier to keep to herself as friendship and bonding was not encouraged within the house and her dark looks scared away anyone who even tried to approach her.

One Saturday morning, which also happened to be the first Hogsmeade trip, Abigail's snowy owl appeared at breakfast, to deliver a letter from her father. Anticipating news from him, she tore the envelope open only to find a short message.

Dear Abigail,

I hope you are well and your first week at school is not too difficult. Do not keep so much anger against the Granger girl, she is not responsible for her parents' crime. I am leaving shortly for the Malfoy Manor; I am expected for dinner. Lucius assured me no Ministry officer will notice my presence in the country. He wishes to talk business and I have great pleasure in meeting with him. The Malfoys are powerful wizards and I expect them to become our allies. Try to socialise with their son, Draco. It would be a good thing to become his friend. He seems to be in the same house as you. Do you already know him? You shall hear from me soon.

Love, your father.

Abigail felt as if her jaw was hanging off its hinges.

Lucius Malfoy! He's staying with Lucius Malfoy! Voldemort's most trustworthy followers! He wants them to become our allies? What was that supposed to mean?

Abigail suddenly had shivers running down her spine.

And what was all this crap about her becoming friends with Draco? Surely her father knew how arrogant and foolish the Malfoy heir was at school?

She turned her head to face the white-blond hair boy, sitting further down the table drinking his coffee. She noticed he was alone, lost in his thoughts and seemed to have purposely sat away from the usual crowd which surrounded him.

Looking at him closely, Abigail noticed that over the summer there had been a sudden change in the boy's physique.

He no longer looked like a boy.

His musculature had developed quite rapidly over the summer, his boyish face seemed to have given way to more manly features, but most importantly, his eyes no longer held any pride and contempt; only ??? and darkness. He had obviously matured rapidly, although she did not know the cause of it, she could see that Malfoy was now more stunning than ever. Abigail had never contested his good looks, but being a Slytherin, she had learnt to see his horrible personality behind his angelic features.

The gorgeous Head Boy was no more than a bully to her, and she hated him for it.

Leaving her breakfast untouched, Abigail left the great hall, sensing a pair of sparkling blue eyes watching her walk out. Dumbledore was obviously keeping a very close eye on her. Wanting to escape the castle for a while, Abigail decided to join the others on the trip to Hogsmeade.

Later that day, she ran into Ginny Weasley in front of The Three Broomsticks. The red-haired girl seemed quite upset.

"Abby, thank Merlin I've found you! You've got to help me!" she cried out. "I've just overheard Pansy Parkinson in the street telling the other Slytherins not to enter the Hog's Head because Malfoy was there teaching a lesson to the Mudblood! She was talking about Hermione! Abby, please, we have to go help her or warn somebody! We have to do something!"

Ginny looked terrified and she had reasons to be. Only yesterday rumours were circling around Hogwarts about Malfoy having become a Death Eater.

Granger is an idiot to go and challenge him. But Abigail kept her mouth shut and decided that, despite what she thought of Granger, Ginny needed her help.

Ginny Weasley was her friend and had helped her out before when she most needed it. So Abigail decided to help her despite her feelings for Granger.

"Stay here," she told the Gryffindor and ran down several streets and alleys to finally reach the Hog's Head. Ginny didn't know about the backroom in the pub, and she didn't want her to know about it either. The room was for the Slytherin's private use, and even Snape probably didn't know about it!

Calling a teacher for help would only make matters worse: Abigail knew that she would have to deal with it herself.

As Abigail reached the backroom door, she barged in and as she had assumed, she found Malfoy gripping on to Granger's arms menacingly. Her face was bruised, her eyes were sore red and her lips were bloodstained. Abigail noticed her flinch when she realised who had come to her rescue.

"Malfoy! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Merlin, don't you realise you're threatening the girl from Dumbledore's Golden Trio! He'll have our necks for this if anything happens to her! You'd better let her go now! It won't take long before the Gryffindors find out."

Abigail was furious with him, but also with Granger for being so stupid. How else did she think all this was going to end? Slytherins and Gryffindors just don't get along, didn't she understand that?

Draco's entire body tensed as he turned to look at this intruder and tried to contain the immense rage overcoming him, which seemed to pour out through his dark grey eyes. Abigail had expected his reaction to be bad, but this was much worse than she'd expected, and she began to shrink back a little.

"What's your name?" he barked back at her. His voice chilled her to the bone, but she held her nerve, and her voice was still steady when she replied.

"Let her go."

"I asked you a question!" his voice made shivers run down Abigail's spine and her courage was slipping away with every second passing by.

"Abigail Serpent. Sixth year Slytherin. Now let her go!"

As she said her name, she noticed a change in Malfoy's attitude. He looked back at her in confusion for a millisecond, but his face quickly gave way to his trademark smirk.

"I was about to let Granger go anyway," he explained, letting go of Granger's arm.

The Gryffindor looked at him incredulously as he gave her wand back and advised her to clean up her face before she left. She tried to thank Abigail but it was no use.

"Get out!" Abigail snapped at her. Anger seethed through her sharp words and Granger hurriedly left the room. Abigail turned her back as well, but she abruptly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Not so fast Miss Serpent," a cold voice whispered in her ear. Again, the chills down her spine made her shiver. She didn't know what game Malfoy was playing at, but she would wipe that arrogant smile off his face.

"What's the matter Malfoy? Surprised to find someone dares to resist you? As Head Boy, I'm surprised you use your Death Eater methods on the Head Girl!"

Judging by the look on his face, Abigail suddenly knew that she had gone too far.

Damn! Why didn't I keep my mouth shut!

Malfoy looked positively dangerous, and in a flash she saw him grab his wand from inside his robes and pull it out at her.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego Alexia!" Abigail whispered a curse of her own, holding her wand.

To Malfoy's surprise, his spell bounced off an invisible shield and hit him squarely back in the chest. He flew back against the wall and hit the floor hard with a loud thud.

As she saw him crumble to the ground, guilt suddenly took over Abigail. Why did she feel this way? The prick had tried to harm her after all. Had she done something wrong protecting herself from Malfoy?

But then she understood her guilt as nearly forgotten words came flowing back into her mind.

Try to socialise with their son, Draco. It would be a good thing to become his friend.

She had disobeyed a direct order from her father. If he ever found out, he would be so disappointed in her.

She looked down at Malfoy in a state of panic. He looked back at her, furious, as he quickly got up to his feet. He didn't seem to have felt any pain at all.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that," were Abigail's last words as she walked hurriedly out of the back room, closing the door behind her. She knew Malfoy and the Slytherins would make both her and Granger pay for this in near future, but she didn't care, just so long as her father didn't find out.

******

(Draco's POV)

He was a Malfoy. He was destined to become the tyrant he had become. Nothing could stand against him or alter him. So why did he feel the need to keep telling himself this? And more importantly, why had Granger's words affected him? How could he lose his temper with the Serpent girl? An obvious answer came to mind...

No! He was not weak! That was only what his father wanted him to believe!

But he would not be like others who needed violence to be respected. No, people feared and respected Draco Malfoy because of his intelligence and cunning. It was that kind of power that he would need to use upon Granger and Serpent. He would break them to his will, shatter them to nothingness for his own entertainment and for revenge. Draco had always been one to hold a grudge.

Serpent would prove to be the easiest, she belonged to the same world as he did, and thus she was vulnerable to him. Granger, on the other hand, was a Mudblood, a Gryffindor, but above all, she had successfully managed to mess with his mind last year - she had made him weak, and for that he would make her pay.

As Draco returned to Hogwarts castle he was eager to regain the privacy of his room in order to plan his revenge. However, it was already dinnertime and as he entered the Great Hall, he couldn't help but notice Granger's absence.

His usual crowd of Slytherins called him over to their table. Pansy Parkinson had obviously kept him a seat next to her, whilst Zabini sat across from him. Malfoy watched as some Hufflepuffs took sudden interest in their food as he walked past them. It was obvious they didn't want to stir up any trouble with him and that they were scared of what he might do to them later, away from the teachers' stares, for his sheer pleasure, if he thought they had even looked at him the wrong way.

As he approached his reserved seat, Malfoy noticed Abigail Serpent, further down the table, in deep conversation with her fellow sixth-years. She seemed to have completely forgotten the day's events with him.

He decided to remind her of them.

Draco swiftly crept up behind her and waited for her to notice him looming behind her. He could finally look at her more intently, now that he was seeing her in broad daylight, instead of the hazy dimness of the Hog's Head. The girl had the features of a Pureblood with her long, jet black curly hair, although her tanned skin gave her a foreign look.

Several of her friends noticed his presence and broke off from the conversation, watching him in surprise and consternation. Even fellow Slytherins feared him: in fact, perhaps they feared him most of all, knowing precisely what he was capable of.

Looks of fear, respect and envy stared back at him. With all the arrogant confidence of a Malfoy, Draco bent down to Abigail's ear and as his warm breath caressed her neck, she stopped talking.

"I accept your apology," he stated quietly to her.

Several girls looked back at Abigail with obvious jealousy in their faces as they saw the white-blond hair angel whispering to her.

"We are obviously alike, you and I, both purebloods and powerful. Therefore you are fully forgiven for this afternoon. But next time, you should know that I will not be so forgiving."

He pressed his hand hard around her shoulder and stood up again, waiting for her answer.

"I'm thrilled," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm as a fake smile lingered on her lips.

Taken aback by such audacity, Draco simply smirked at her and left, anger seething well-concealed below the surface.

She'll definitely have it coming for her.

******

After supper, Draco ran up to his room without seeing Granger as he walked through the common room: it always surprised him that they never bumped into each other. He sat down immediately at his desk and wrote a letter to his father.

Father,

I have discovered the identity of the last descendant. She is a Slytherin and thus should cause no trouble: it will be easy to make her reveal all of the information we need. However, I was troubled to see that she defended a Mudblood and, therefore, I believe she may have already joined the other side. I will do my best to learn more about the books.

Draco.

He immediately sent his letter by owl from his window, aware that his father would expect information as soon as it was available, and would not tolerate a delay. Collapsing on his bed, he began to ponder on the day's events.

Was Serpent really working for Dumbledore? Is that why she had saved Granger?

However it didn't make sense? He had noticed the look of hatred that had crossed Abigail's face as she spoke to the Mudblood. He had instantly recognised it, seeing it almost everyday from his father. Granger herself had been surprised when Abigail had entered the room. It was if they already knew each other, but he didn't sense any bond of friendship.

But it was impossible that Hermione could have known who she was! Even Draco had not known who Abigail truly was until today. But if she was working for Dumbledore then perhaps that was how they had already met! This train of thought just led him around in circles!

Inside Draco felt something still wasn't quite right. He didn't believe the old fool would have recruited such a powerful Pureblood, and a Slytherin! Dumbledore did not trust Malfoy's kind.

It still didn't explain how Granger and Serpent knew each other, unless...

Draco got up quickly, realising the obvious. He shot out of his room and into the common room: he had decided to interrogate Granger, and headed quickly for her room.

However, as he crossed the common room again, he suddenly noticed a familiar shadow against the wall. Looking intently towards the fireplace, he noticed her.

She was curled up in one of the big armchairs reading a book. Her bushy hair fell into her face and her eyes gazed intently at the page before her. She was obviously ignoring him.

Typical, Draco thought. But at least now he would have his answer.

"Evening Granger," he greeted her maliciously, grabbing the book out of her hands.

"What do you want Malfoy?!" she shot back, giving him a foul look.

"Tsk, tsk, manners Granger! I need you to explain something for me," he answered, as he threw the book aside. Granger instinctively went to pick it up, but he stopped her roughly with a strong arm and abruptly swung her round so that she was facing him.

She had changed since last year, he noticed. The Mudblood had nicer curves than the previous year but had also lost her refreshingly innocent look: the only features to stand out now were her round, dark brown eyes, which seemed empty and showed signs of constant stress and fatigue.

Still, she had her charms - more than one would expect from a Mudblood. This fact had often struck him during all those years, and especially the last one, but it was also one of the reasons why he hated her so much. Not only could she not keep her mouth shut, she also had enough audacity to catch his attention with her looks. At that instant, the lack of fear in her eyes angered him, and, not for the first time, he noticed how easy it was for the Gryffindor Mudblood to make him lose control with one look.

"Why would a sixth-year Slytherin come to your rescue?" he questioned bitterly.

"I don't know," she replied bluntly.

But Draco had already noticed the sudden tension in her body and flicker of fear in her eyes. She had poorly hidden her astonishment and discomfort at his question.

"Don't play dumb Granger! What's the link between Abigail Serpent and a Mudblood?"

Her eyes narrowed at the insult. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He looked down at her with pure contempt. "Really? Well it seems like your pretty ideas about helping me out have changed considerably since this morning."

Hermione lowered her head at his words and did not reply.

Draco smiled inwardly to himself. She was already showing signs of weakness, but somehow the defeat felt a little hollow, as the words poured out of his mouth before he had time to think.

"Oh I see - so this morning was just a little act then. Let's go lure Draco so he can show us his Dark Mark to see if the rumours are true." It was impossible for him to conceal his bitterness now.

"Stop it. Just stop," she barely whispered. But he kept on.

"Why it was obvious all along that you would no longer want to 'save me' after spending a golden summer with Potter and Weasel. I'm sure you must have forgotten all about me, having fun with your precious friends. That's certainly what I did - I forgot all about the horrible sight of you - I never gave another thought about my little Mudblood." His tone suddenly became harsh. "Drop the saviour act Granger, it looks bad for the both of us."

"Screw you!" Before he knew it she had already lifted her hand, wanting to smack him across the face. Fortunately for him, he caught her arm before the damage was done.

"What?"

Anger started to overtake him again, but to his surprise she wasn't intimidated, and pushed herself away from him with all her strength.

"I said screw you!" she shouted back at him. "I reached out my hand to you! I wanted to help you because I had faith in you - you creep! I'm the only one now who could possibly fill your cold heart with joy and laughter Malfoy - no-one else has any interest in you. And when I realised that, I made more of an effort to make you realise it as well."

She stopped, her voice becoming a whisper and tears welling in her eyes. "I didn't think this year would be the same. I thought forgetting about you would be easy. But all the time and effort I put into that task was for nothing; nothing has changed! I knew it when I felt the unexpected pain inside when you left me abruptly at the station. For God's sake Draco, I spent all summer worrying about you!"

She stepped backwards, slowly, edging away from him, as if the mere sight of him pained her, and the pain grew less with distance.

"All these questions kept hammering in my head! Is he dead? Is it too late? Did his father finally oblige him to become one of them? Or did he refuse? Did he realise his own potential and refuse the path set for him by others?"

By now, her whole body seemed to shiver as she looked up deeply into Draco's silver stare.

"Do you know what it feels like inside to be left in the dark for two whole months and then hear your worst fear has become true? Obviously not!"

His face, which had been held in a cold expression, was gradually dropping to reveal his confusion, despite his best efforts.

"I was a fucking idiot to ever worry over an egoistical bastard like you!"

In a moment of weakness Draco grabbed her fiercely and kissed her, unwilling to listen to her tirade a moment longer. Sensing her surprise, he pressed his lips harder against hers and held a tight grip around her waist, keeping her locked in his embrace. He noticed she had started trembling under him but he did not break the kiss.

Her lips were soft and warm as she responded to him - this was all so different from anything he had ever experienced before.

Passion seemed to run through his entire body only to concentrate in his mouth. He felt Hermione give in completely to him, her body sighing into his. She moaned against his mouth and it was her sudden yielding that caused Draco to realise what he was doing.

Furious, he pushed her away and without a backward glance, stormed off into his room, leaving Hermione dizzy and confused in the middle of the darkened room.

That night, Granger's confused eyes haunted the Malfoy heir's dreams. And in anger, he realised that she had answered nothing.